


Fragmentary

by yeaka



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 01:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19122286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Riku rescues Sora from the realm of darkness.





	Fragmentary

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Kingdom Hearts or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Superficially, the realm of darkness changes. Sometimes it feels like he’s just swimming in an endless sea of black, whereas other times there’s a clear, twisting, never-ending path, and still others there are mountainous rocks and hills and almost _scenery_ , as thought it’s just any other world. But underneath that shallow cover, it all _feels_ the same—the darkness eats away at him, whispering in his mind of all the despair he used to hold. 

Riku shoves it down. He’s older now, stronger, and he doesn’t have to give in to fear to reach his true potential. He walks through the inky abyss with his heart hardened against the cloying negativity around him. That heart draws him forward. There are no directions in the realm of darkness, but when he concentrates and holds onto certain _feelings_ , he knows where to go. Riku trusts those instincts. Bit by bit, he makes his way through the pulsing nothingness, slaying any shadows that rise up in his way. 

In the middle of a crater-laden field of dirt and emptiness, he takes down another darkside. It leaves him sweating and panting, but he lifts his keyblade off the ground and pushes back up to his feet. He goes on. Another corner, down a steep slope of crumbling rocks, and he reaches a mottled pit of bubbling liquid mud and hard clay. Riku walks through it, dirtying his shoes. Then he hears the voice. 

It’s only a faint, quiet hum: a familiar tune that takes him back to his childhood. He recognizes the wordless, upbeat melody. And he recognizes the voice. Riku steels himself and rushes forward, running through the field and around the towering cliffs before him. 

Then, all at once, his search is over. He rounds the next corner and stumbles to a halt. His breath catches in his throat. For a moment, he’s overcome with relief. When it passes, he starts noticing the little details that are _off_.

He’s drowned in darkness enough times to know that it can play tricks on him. But his heart is unwaveringly sure that it’s _real_ , and he trusts that. So he calls, “Sora.”

The figure before him pauses its aimless wandering. It turns back to see him. 

Sora smiles.

“Riku!”

The jubilant brunet darts forward, and Riku lets his keyblade dissolve so he can throw his arms open. Sora barrels right into them, enveloping Riku in a warm, crushing hug that permeates through Riku’s entire body. He lets his arms wrap around the familiar form of his best friend. Sora hugs him tighter and repeats, quiet and reverent, “ _Riku._ I knew you’d come.”

“Of course,” Riku quips, unable to resist running a hand through Sora’s soft hair. The first pet is loving, but the second playfully rifles through the disheveled spikes, and Sora steps back from it, laughing. Riku can feel the smile on his face too. “You’re always there to help me out of trouble. I have to return the favour.”

“Aw, you’re being nice about it. I thought for sure you were gonna give me heck for getting myself thrown here in the first place.”

Honestly, Riku was. He had a whole speech planned out about how Sora really has to be more careful—not _everyone_ he meets is trustworthy, and his confidence won’t be enough to win every fight. But the lecture’s already left Riku’s head, because he’s distracted by other things. 

He reaches his hand back up to Sora’s hair, but this time slides to the left, where he nudges up against a large, fuzzy, triangular ear that looks like it should be on a cat. 

And it’s not just a headband with cat ears—he’s got glowing _wings_ on his back, small little things that look more for show than purpose, and new bangles on his arms. Riku tugs at one of the ears, and Sora goes cutely cross-eyed looking up at him. 

“Oh, yeah! Aren’t those cool? I found them here.” 

Riku blinks. Only Sora could find a cat ear headband just lying around the realm of darkness. 

“And my clothes changed, too! See this pattern here? Is it too much red, though? I found a blue option and was thinking about changing it...”

“You found it,” Riku repeats. The confusion seems to go over Sora’s head. 

“Yeah! Pretty neat, right?”

They’re not exactly cool, nor neat, but Sora does somehow look even more adorable with them, which Riku would’ve thought to be impossible. He can’t bring himself to admit it and instead just shrugs. Sora sticks out his tongue and playfully punches Riku’s arm. Riku sighs, “You’re unbelievable.”

Sora nods, then topples over into Riku’s arms as the ground shakes. They both straighten, tense, keyblades drawing. The ground trembles again, and Riku looks back to see it—an enormous, slobbering heartless that towers in the distance, giant mouth open and sharp fangs gleaming. Sora moves forward as though to take it down. 

Riku grabs onto him instead, wrapping him up in _light_ and murmuring, “It’s time to go.”

The heartless bounds forward. But they’ve dissolved before it reaches them, and then they’re tipping over into the soft sand. Sora “oof”s impact. Riku doesn’t fully let go until he’s taken in the blue sky and knows they’re really home free. 

They both sit up, sand sticking everywhere, their feet half in the water and their socks soaking through. Sora looks around, visibly breathing out the last of his pain. He’s back where he belongs, alive, and safe. 

His eyes trail back to the water, and he catches his reflection. Pouting, he bemoans, “Aw, my cat ears are gone!” 

Riku laughs, because _only Sora._


End file.
